Hesson wary of South Africa's all-round pace attack

The biggest obstacle in New Zealand's path to a first ever Test series win over South Africa is the opposition's pace pack, according to coach Mike Hesson.

"From a seam bowling point of view, they are strong, they have got a lot of variety," Hesson said in Durban. "They have some bounce bowlers, some good swing bowlers, some seam bowlers so that will provide it's own challenges."

New Zealand are fresh off a 2-0 sweep over Zimbabwe, where their batsmen profited from time in the middle but were not always challenged by a hardworking but tame attack. Donald Tiripano, Michael Chinouya, Chamu Chibhabha and Prince Masvaure all bowled around 130kphs and slower, did not find movement or bounce and offered regular freebies. Dale Steyn, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada, Kyle Abbott, Wayne Parnell or Chris Morris are not expected to be as generous.

South Africa's six seamers, of which three are likely to play, are known for swing, seam movement and speed. Even though they have not competed in a Test match in nearly seven months and two of the three first-choice picks - Philander and Steyn - missed most of last summer with injuries, Hesson expects them to pose a serious threat to his line-up.

"Vernon has played a lot of cricket recently so he has got loads of overs under his belt. He is a high quality bowler. We saw him at his best a few years ago. He hits lovely lengths and we know he is going to provide a challenge there, most likely with the new ball," Hesson said, referring to Philander's outings with the South African A team. Philander travelled to Zimbabwe and Australia where he was his usual miserly self, although he did not lead the wicket-takers' list.

Philander's hauls in the last two years have decreased significantly from when his career began. But New Zealand will remember his 21 against them in the series in 2012, of which 10 came in the Hamilton Test South Africa won, and his seven in the Newlands match a year later. They will be wary of his ability to tempt batsmen outside the off stump, to create uncertainty with subtle movement and if nothing else, to hold his end while his team-mates attack.

It is most likely those team-mates will be Steyn and Rabada, and Hesson mentioned both as men New Zealand would watching out for. "In terms of Kagiso Rabada, he has got pace, bounce and skill and he is fresh so he keeps running in at you hard. He is someone we are going to have to spend a bit of time on. We know he is a quality bowler. And then when you've got Dale Steyn at the other end, there is no let off."

New Zealand will draw inspiration from their recent form - they batted three times in the two-match series in Zimbabwe, registered six centuries and were not bowled out in any of their innings - but remain cautious that run-scoring won't be as simple in South Africa as it was in Bulawayo. "We recognise that the surfaces there (Zimbabwe) are significantly different than they are here," Hesson said.

What they don't know is exactly how different. There has never been a first-class match played at Kingsmead in August before so nobody knows what to expect from early season conditions. Durban does not get as cold as the rest of South Africa in winter, neither does it get as dry as the inland of the country, so it is unlikely to be too fresh a pitch. It may even take some turn, as it did during a limited-overs series played last August, which New Zealand were part of. If it does, they have come prepared.

"It depends how dry the wicket is. If we think it's going to turn - it turned during the one-dayers last year - we might play two spinners," Hesson said. "We wouldn't be afraid playing two spinners, if we felt that it was going to be dry and turn."

That was New Zealand's strategy in Zimbabwe where they fielded both Ish Sodhi and Mitchell Santner to back up a three-pronged pace pack comprising Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner. Wickets were spread among them with Wagner topping the charts with 11 scalps and Sodhi (eight), Boult and Santner and Southee (six each) not far behind. On unresponsive surfaces, the five-man attack combined to take 20 wickets twice and win the series.

With that in mind, it may turn out that the biggest obstacle between South Africa defending an unbeaten record that has stretched back 14 series from 1931, and New Zealand, is the opposition's pace pack.